Legendary Star Trek producer Brannon Braga suggests that Star Trek: The Next Generation didn’t need to be canceled after 7 years and could have gone on for 10 seasons.
Star Trek: The Next Generation’s 7 seasons aired in syndication from 1987 to 1994. Essentially creating the syndication model for first-run original series, TNG became a ratings juggernaut, acclaimed by critics and fans. However, Paramount made the call to end Next Gen‘s TV run and transition it to feature films after 7 years, with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine filling the void in syndication starting in 1993 while Star Trek: Voyager launched the new United Paramount Network in 1995.
Appearing on The 7th Rule with Cirroc Lofton and Ryan T. Husk, Brannon Braga helped wrap up the hit podcast’s 3-year journey reviewing every episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Braga looked back at the busy timeframe of when TNG ended, when the movies were being produced, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was in full swing, and Star Trek: Voyager was being developed. Brannon then shared his belief that TNG had “another 3 years, easy” and could have gone 10 seasons. Read his quote below:
Brannon Braga: “In my mind, TNG never ended. I mean, it was taken off the air at the height of its popularity. It had another 3 years, easy.”
Answering Cirroc Lofton’s follow-up question about why it was decided that 7 seasons was the cutoff for Star Trek series, Braga noted the rising costs of producing a Star Trek series for so many years, and that, at the time, 7 seasons guaranteed re-airing in syndication in perpetuity (before the rise of streaming changed television). Read Brannon’s response to Cirroc’s question:
Brannon Braga: “It seemed… I think the thinking was after 7 years, you’ve accumulated enough episodes to have an incredible syndicated life. And things start to get more expensive by that point. Actors’ salaries, everyone, really… Enterprise ended after 4 seasons, but we also did [98] episodes. Do you know how many episodes the [Alex] Kurtzman era produced? Grand total? It might not even be 100. I don’t know. Because their seasons are so short. Seven, I wanna say, was kind of arbitrary, but I think it just… seemed about right.”
Watch Brannon Braga on The 7th Rule below:
Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s 7-season run became ‘the number’ that other Star Trek series aspired to. DS9 and Voyager also ran 7 seasons, while Enterprise was considered a ‘failure’ for only lasting 4 seasons. Paramount+’s Star Trek series ceiling became 5 seasons, although the initial idea for Star Trek: Discovery was to match TNG‘s 7 seasons before Paramount Global’s sale to Skydance Media changed everything.
To answer Brannon Braga’s question about the cumulative number of episodes of executive producer Alex Kurtzman’s Star Trek era on Paramount+, noting that Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Prodigy‘s episodes were 30 minutes in length, and with the addition of the made-for-streaming movie Star Trek: Section 31, the sum total of Kurtzman Star Trek is 251 episodes and one movie.
Alex Kurtzman Era Star Trek
Seasons
Episodes
Star Trek: Discovery
5
65
Star Trek: Picard
3
30
Star Trek: Lower Decks
5
50* half-hour
Star Trek: Prodigy
2
40* half-hour
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
5
46
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy
2
20
Star Trek: Section 31
Movie
1
Total
20 + movie
251 + movie
The decision to end Star Trek: The Next Generation after 7 seasons was made by Paramount a few years prior and was tied to what to do about the Star Trek movie franchise, as The Original Series‘ cast was aging and becoming more expensive. With TNG a proven hit on television, Paramount made the call to ‘pass the torch’ to the popular USS Enterprise-D cast to carry the movie franchise forward.
Star Trek The Next Generation cast-1
Brannon Braga enjoyed his time on Star Trek: The Next Generation, which he joined in season 4, and looks back over thirty years later wishing the show could have run even longer. Braga and Ronald D. Moore wrote the first TNG movie, Star Trek Generations, in 1994, and the duo returned to pen the most successful TNG movie of all, 1996’s Star Trek: First Contact, before Brannon moved to Star Trek: Voyager, eventually becoming showrunner, and then co-created Star Trek: Enterprise with Rick Berman,
Conventional wisdom holds that Star Trek: The Next Generation was beginning to run out of creative steam by its final season. The cast was also getting restless. For the actors, returning every couple of years to make a movie was a more attractive prospect than producing more years of 26-episode-per-season television. Regardless, there was never a plan or option for Star Trek: The Next Generation to continue past season 7.
Stardate 47988.1 · Crew Assessment The Final Frontier Trivia Challenge
🚀ShipsEnterprise!
⭐CrewMake it so
☠EnemiesResistance is…
⚡TechWarp speed!
📖LoreLive long…
01
The USS Enterprise is the most iconic starship in science fiction. What is the registry number of Captain Kirk’s original Enterprise from The Original Series?
✓ Correct! NCC-1701 is the registry of Kirk’s original Constitution-class Enterprise. The “-D” suffix belongs to Picard’s Galaxy-class ship, NX-01 is Archer’s Enterprise, and NCC-74656 is Voyager.
✗ Red alert! The answer is NCC-1701. Kirk’s original Constitution-class Enterprise carried this now-legendary registry. NCC-1701-D is Picard’s Enterprise from TNG, NX-01 is Captain Archer’s, and NCC-74656 belongs to Voyager.
02
Kirk’s most trusted officer is a half-human, half-Vulcan science officer famous for his logic and iconic salute. Who is this legendary character?
✓ Correct! Mr. Spock, played by Leonard Nimoy, is the half-Vulcan science officer whose “Live long and prosper” salute became a cultural icon. His struggle between logic and emotion defines the heart of the Original Series.
✗ Red alert! The answer is Spock. Data is an android from TNG, Tuvok is Voyager’s Vulcan tactical officer, and Sarek is Spock’s Vulcan father. Only Spock is the half-human, half-Vulcan first officer of Kirk’s Enterprise.
03
Starfleet’s most important regulation forbids interference with the natural development of alien civilizations. What is this guiding principle called?
✓ Correct! The Prime Directive (also known as General Order 1) is Starfleet’s most sacred law. It prohibits interfering with less-developed civilizations — though Kirk, Picard, and Janeway have all famously bent or broken it when lives were at stake.
✗ Red alert! The answer is the Prime Directive. While “General Order One” is technically another name for it, the Prime Directive is the universally known term. The Omega Directive and Temporal Accord are separate, more specialized Starfleet protocols.
04
“Resistance is futile.” This chilling declaration belongs to a cybernetic collective that assimilates entire civilizations into its hive mind. What is this fearsome species called?
✓ Correct! The Borg are Star Trek’s most terrifying villains — a hive-mind collective that forcibly assimilates species and technology. Captain Picard was famously assimilated and transformed into Locutus in the landmark TNG episode “The Best of Both Worlds.”
✗ Red alert! The answer is the Borg. The Dominion is the Gamma Quadrant empire from DS9, the Romulans are a rival empire, and Species 8472 is actually one of the few species that the Borg themselves fear. Only the Borg declare “Resistance is futile.”
05
Captain Jean-Luc Picard commands the Enterprise-D in The Next Generation and later received his own series, Star Trek: Picard. Which acclaimed actor portrays him?
✓ Correct! Sir Patrick Stewart brought gravitas, Shakespeare, and Earl Grey tea to the captain’s chair for seven seasons of TNG, four films, and three seasons of Star Trek: Picard. His “Make it so” is one of TV’s most iconic catchphrases.
✗ Red alert! The answer is Patrick Stewart. William Shatner plays Captain Kirk, Avery Brooks is Captain Sisko on Deep Space Nine, and Scott Bakula captains the NX-01 Enterprise. Only Sir Patrick Stewart portrays the legendary Jean-Luc Picard.
06
Starfleet vessels travel faster than light by bending space around them using a matter-antimatter reaction. What is this propulsion system called?
✓ Correct! Warp Drive is the standard faster-than-light propulsion in Star Trek, powered by dilithium-regulated matter-antimatter reactions. Zefram Cochrane invented it in 2063, which led to humanity’s first contact with the Vulcans.
✗ Red alert! The answer is Warp Drive. Transwarp is an advanced Borg technology, Slipstream is an experimental quantum drive, and the Spore Drive uses mycelial network navigation (from Discovery). Standard Starfleet vessels use Warp Drive.
07
At Starfleet Academy, cadets face a notorious no-win scenario designed to test their character under impossible circumstances. James Kirk is the only cadet who ever beat it — by cheating. What is this test called?
✓ Correct! The Kobayashi Maru is an unwinnable rescue simulation that tests how cadets handle certain death. Kirk reprogrammed it so he could win — earning a commendation for original thinking. It was memorably featured in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
✗ Red alert! The answer is the Kobayashi Maru. The Corbomite Maneuver is a TOS episode, not an Academy test. The Kobayashi Maru is the famous no-win scenario that Kirk defeated by reprogramming the simulation — because he doesn’t believe in the no-win scenario.
08
In the widely regarded greatest Star Trek film, a genetically enhanced superhuman from Earth’s past seeks revenge against Captain Kirk. “KHAAAAN!” Who is this iconic villain?
✓ Correct! Khan Noonien Singh, played by Ricardo Montalbán, is Star Trek’s greatest villain. First appearing in the TOS episode “Space Seed,” he returned in The Wrath of Khan (1982) for a devastating revenge plot that cost Spock his life.
✗ Red alert! The answer is Khan Noonien Singh. General Chang is a Klingon from Star Trek VI, Q is TNG’s omnipotent trickster, and Gul Dukat is DS9’s Cardassian antagonist. Only Khan inspired Kirk’s legendary scream across the cosmos.
Mission Complete Your Starfleet Record
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Are you an Admiral — or still a cadet on deck-scrubbing duty?
